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The COVID-19 pandemic thrust remote work into the spotlight as offices closed their doors and employees turned their homes int...
The COVID-19 pandemic thrust remote work into the spotlight as offices closed their doors and employees turned their homes into workspaces. By the end of 2020, an estimated 56.8% of Americans were working from home, and while those numbers will shift as the pandemic comes to an end, the popularity of remote work is here to stay. The number of remote workers is expected to double in the next five years, with 36.2 million Americans working remotely.
While working remotely has been popular among employees and managers, it has brought its own set of challenges. Without the constant interaction of the office environment, many employees struggle to stay engaged with their work and their company, ultimately leading them to burn out or quit.
But it’s entirely possible to keep employees engaged without office parties and face-to-face meetings. The secret? Employee recognition.
Employee recognition is how you show your employees that they are valued, seen, and appreciated. In the office, you may have done this through call-outs at the staff meeting, which highlighted the accomplishments of specific employees. This could also take the form of one-on-one meetings or celebrations.
When working remotely, it is more challenging to replicate these experiences. Perhaps your team is no longer doing all-staff meetings as you did when you were in the office. Or, without constantly passing by someone’s desk during the day, you’re finding it more difficult to remember to meet with them one-on-one about the quality of their work.
But sacrificing these everyday forms of employee recognition because you’re no longer in the office can come at a significant cost to your business.
While employee recognition may be hard to quantify, one thing is clear: Employees greatly value it. Employees who don’t feel recognized are twice as likely to quit their job within the next year as those who do. 63% of employees who feel recognized aren’t likely to look for a new job, while 11% of those who don’t feel recognized say the same. And 82% of employees are happier when recognized for their work. Bear in mind that these surveys were conducted prior to COVID, so they don’t take into account the stress of suddenly shifting to remote work, handling childcare during a pandemic, and otherwise living in an abnormally challenging world.
The implications of not properly recognizing employees can be highly detrimental to your business. Gallup estimates that it costs about two times an employee’s salary to replace them. In the US, that accounts for $1 trillion dollars in losses each year. Employee recognition is not just about creating goodwill between your company and your employees; it also contributes to employee retention, which can save your company significant money in the long run.
You may not be able to throw an office party while working remotely, but that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck. There are many ways, large and small, to recognize employees while working remotely.
While taking your team out to lunch isn’t always feasible with remote work, you can still reward employee accomplishments by paying for their lunch remotely. With virtual gift cards, you don’t even have to worry about the hassle of mailing it. Gift cards are a small, but simple way of expressing your gratitude for an employee’s hard work.
Maintaining good communication can be tough when a team begins working remotely. When you notice team members being especially responsive or helping to find new ways of communicating, send them a quick message letting them know that you noticed. This can help to boost motivation and employee satisfaction while they adjust to this new way of working.
If your team uses Slack or a similar communications platform, you can send messages to the whole team sharing your praise. Public praise is a great motivator for people to continue doing good work and strive to be even better. Encouraging other team members to share their praise is also a wonderful way to build camaraderie between employees and cultivate a positive, connected work culture -- even while remote.
Platforms such as Assembly are designed to make employee recognition an easy part of your company’s culture. Assembly encourages employees to give each other highly specific, public praise with simple tools that integrate with Slack and Microsoft Teams. You can also offer rewards to employees for their hard work. These platforms take the backend work out of employee recognition, so you can focus less on logistics and more on recognizing your employees’ contributions to your company.
Employee recognition is key to keeping employees motivated and engaged with their work, especially when your team works remotely. By implementing good employee recognition programs and techniques, you can retain your best employees and maintain a strong company culture, no matter where in the world your employees are.
Get the foundational knowledge on creating an employee recognition program that boosts employee engagement and helps them feel valued.
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